We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Devin Ershow a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Devin, appreciate you joining us today. How did you find your key vendor or vendors? Maybe you can share the backstory and share some context and the relevant details to help us understand why you chose them, why they chose you, etc.
When we were developing the concept for Borrowed Page American Whiskey it was important to us that we worked with distilleries that we felt we understood, that we believed in and who we felt were doing things the right way and for the right reasons. This is why we only work with distilleries that we have already featured on our website. When we feature a distillery on our website we do extensive research into their history/background, process and philosophy behind production and their brand/marketing strategy. We sit down for a long interview with them to dig deep into all of these aspects of their brand and product development. The distilleries send us samples of their whiskey to review, so when it comes time to put together our next blend we have a very good idea of what might play well together and the kind of story we can tell in bringing these distilleries together.
Devin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
American Mash & Grain functions as both a marketing/media company and as a blending house. Our mission is to help expand the profile of the American craft whiskey movement. On our website, we feature a new craft whiskey distillery from around the country every month. We write long form articles that do a deep dive into the who, why, how and where behind the small producers evolving the concept of what American whiskey is and can be. We just launched our podcast, Craft Spirited, which is a narrative style podcast transforming our articles into 20-30 minute digestible episodes that will help us expand our audience. We also have Borrowed Page American Whiskey. A blended whiskey we create in collaboration with distilleries that we have previously featured on our website to blend multiple styles of whiskey together. The idea being to create distinctive whiskeys that are different than anything else available on the market and help to challenge the ever expanding concept of American whiskey while also shining a light on the distilleries we partner with by showcasing their logos on the front of our label. That whiskey is available online on our website and can ship to 47 states in the US. It is now also available in stores and bars in Colorado.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I met my Co-Founder and business partner, Chase Langdon in Kindergarten. I was new to the school. He had been there for a whole half year of Pre-K. On the second day of school he and I got into a shoving match in line and ended up being “benched.” This was the most popular punishment in our elementary school. Being benched meant sitting on a bench next to where the teachers sat at recess, forced to watch all the other kids playing. It was on that bench that we really started to bond over our mutual appreciation for Power Rangers and apple juice. A friendship was born that has lasted nearly 30 years now and has turned into a mission based spirits company we are both really proud of.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I have not always been in the spirits industry. In fact, for most of my life I believed I would be a filmmaker. I grew up in a family of artists, actors, photographers, etc. From an early age I had an interest in storytelling. I worked as an actor as a child at both an amateur and professional level. I sang in choirs and eventually in a capella groups. I attended NYU’s Tisch School of the arts, majoring in film production and even performed in New York City as a stand up comedian. In college, I began focusing more on writing. When I graduated I started working in the industry right away, but more behind the scenes. As the years dragged on I promoted further up the chain. As I got farther and farther away from my creativity and farther and farther away from storytelling I became more frustrated with career. It was a trip to Ireland with my wife in 2017 that really changed the trajectory of my life. We stumbled into the Irish Whiskey Museum in Dublin while we waited for our tour of Trinity College to start. On this tour I fell in love with the history and process of making whiskey. I spent the rest of that vacation trying to taste as much Irish whiskey as I could, and when I returned to the US, I wanted to learn more about all different kinds of whiskey. Several certifications and part time jobs later, I realized that it was time for me to make a real change. Starting American Mash & Grain with Chase created an opportunity for me to begin to leave Film & Television behind and commit more fully to whiskey. I still dream of one day returning to the film industry, hopefully combining my two passions together, but for now I am fully invested in the whiskey industry and the future for American Mash & Grain.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mashngrain.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mashngrain/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/American-Mash-and-Grain-101891168219108
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-ershow-64000736/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/mashngrain
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/1TacUxaiPaYjcLwOmOlnME?si=40b7d3db9b964f9b https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/craft-spirited/id1709173969